A content management system is a system configured to enable the management and publishing of content stored using the content management system. Content management systems organize and store a variety of content, such as documents, image data, video data, and audio data utilizing a back-end storage system. Content management systems also provide functionality to centralize the publishing of those documents, such as via one or more web sites. By providing centralized functionality for the publishing of documents, a content management system provides a convenient way to host and manage a variety of web sites from a single back-end storage system.
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks. Varieties of services are provided on the Internet, including websites. Websites include a variety of content, such as text, pictures, audio data, video data, and other interactive content. Web sites are typically hosted using content servers and a web browser is an application that enables a user to receive, view, and interact with a websites hosted on content servers. A variety of web browsers are commonly used to view websites, including Internet Explorer from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash. and the Chrome browser from Google, Inc. of Mountain View, Calif.
Many documents, including web pages within a website, are written using the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). A HTML document contains a set of nested tags. HTML tags include data stored in the tag, either as a property of the tag or between an opening tag and a closing tag. Web browsers do not display the HTML tags; rather, web browsers are configured to parse a HTML document and render one or more web pages including the information stored in the HTML tags. Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) are used to describe the formatting and display of a document when it is rendered. CSS can be used to describe the formatting of a variety of documents, including HTML documents and other documents, such as documents written using the Extensible Markup Language (XML). A single document can have a variety of associated CSS, so that the document can be rendered in a variety of ways depending on the capabilities of the device used to display the document. For example, a HTML document can be rendered with one format in a web browser on a desktop computer using a CSS designed for a desktop browser, while the same HTML document can be rendered in a second format in a web browser running on a mobile phone using a second CSS designed for a mobile browser.
Many web pages utilize scripts in order to provide flexibility in the creation and display of a web page. Scripts can be written in a variety of languages, including JavaScript by the Mozilla Foundation of Mountain View, Calif. and ECMAScript, standardized as ECMA-262 by ECMA International of Geneva, Switzerland. Web browsers are configured to parse and execute scripts contained in web pages. These scripts can control the appearance of a web page, customize the content according to the preferences of a user viewing the web page, and allow for data to be received using the web page. Scripts can be server-side, where the script is run on a content server, or client-side, where the script is run using the web browser receiving the script.